Photo Of A Solid Gold Buddha That I Took While On R&R In Bangkok, Thailand

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I took this photo of a real solid gold Buddha in August of 1967 while I was on R&R in Bangkok, Thailand. I have a lot of photos of this beautiful city.

Photo Of Me Resting @ One Of Our Forward Base Camps

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This photo was shot by one of my buddies while I was resting while guarding our Forward Fire Base. The Forward Fire Base contained our HQ Company and all of our supporting Artillery (both the 105mm stationary and 155mm Self Propelled Artillery) and of course one Line Company. An Infantry Battalion was made up of 3 Line Companies and a Headquarters Company. The Rotation back to the Forward Fire Base (company in reserve) occurred every 8 days or so which meant that 16 days in the Boonies and then the next 8 days protecting the Forward Fire Base. Sometime in the Fall of 1967 the army added another line company to the 3rd Battalion-8th Infantry which was "D" company. Life for us grunts was somewhat more relaxed when we were in reserve. We still had to pull Nightly Ambush Patrols. and daytime patrols because the NVA knew where we were at all times because of our big guns going off all the time during fire missions. It's no wonder I have lost my hearing. You can't even come close to imaging the concussion was from a 155mm Self propelled Artillery Piece. I still remember the difference between the NVA assaulting one of Line Companies and just Harassing Fire from our huge guns. The artillery would fire continuously if one of our Line companies were in trouble and sporadically fire when they were just harassing the NVA.

Photo From Brother Ed Pippin

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This photo was given to me by Brother Ed Pippin. The photo is of a shot down Huey Slick Helicopter. If I'm not mistaken it was a resupply slick and was shot down while resupplying my company "B" during the Battle for Dak To by a NVA B-40 rocket round. I was @ Dragon Mountain, our main division base camp in Pleiku waiting for my departure from that war. I think the term was DEROS. I remember hearing about this battle with the notorious NVA 11/11/1967, just 9 days before my departure

We lost 18 brave men in this battle from my company. I do not have the figures of WIA. Brother Ed Pippin received a serious wound in this battle. I don't have the figures but I'd say most of these boys had less than 3 months in country!

You can read all this battle @ the following Link!

http://www.ivydragoons.org/Files/DakTo/dakto_narrative.htm

Photo Of Kurt Nagl & Charlie Steinmetz

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This photo was given to me by my good friend Kurt Nagl. Even though he is a YANKEE from Maryland, I still claim him as my Brother-In-Arms along with Charlie. Kurt was a an A-1 medic over there in Nam. Lionel Dudley nicknamed him the "Flat Footed German Yankee" but he is from Austria instead. I found the following quote from the Ivy Dragoons Website Guestbook by Kurt:

Nov.22, Thanksgiving Eve., Two Anniversaries for me. The first, Nov.22, 1955 I stepped off a ship in NY Harbor on my way to become an AMERICAN. That was 51 years ago. 40 years ago on Thanksgiving eve, before I was sent out to B Co. I was pulling perimeter guard on FBC. Since I had surgical skills, I was asked to carve all the TURKEYS in Sgt Bagleys Mess Tent for the Battalion. I spent all night carving & fellow immigrant an Irishman named Ryan, spent the night Baking. We were still in Tuy Hoa chasing Charlie & not NVA in the Highlands, which came later. Peace My Brothers & Let Us Give Thanks. Doc

Let me tell you about my friend Charlie. I still remember Charlie in Basic Training getting Giged about every day for not SHAVING. Charlie had the blackest, thickest beard and after he shaved he still didn't look like he had shaved. The rest of us BOYS 18-19 yrs old only had fuzz. I hope to see both of them this June at our next reunion down in Nashville. I saw Kurt about 36 years ago and Charlie it has been about 39-40 years since I saw him. I fought beside Charlie @ Plei Doch and Plei Ya Bo and all of the smaller skirmishes.

Clem Woods? In Tuy Hoa

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I think the boy in this photo is Clem Woods from I believe Cleveland, Ohio! Yet another photo that I had to doctor up some.

Photo Of Downtown Tuy Hoa

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Viet Nam was a very poor country. Very few automobiles, only the rich could afford one. Their only means of transportation were bicycles, rickshaws, mopeds and Lambert's (Cushman trucks) and an occasional ole bus. I had to touch up this photo which I am not very great at!!!!

Photo Of Us Moving A Montygnard Village

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We would often move an entire Montygnard Village to a more secure site. Our engineers would build them a new village and we would move them. Then afterwards we would burn down their old village to deny the NVA shelter from the elements.

Photo Of Me Digging A Foxhole

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This is a photo of me digging a foxhole for the night.

Photo of Rex Walker Sitting In The Center

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Hey Vada, I dedicate this photo to you. I don't know if I gave you this rare photo of your late husband Rex or not. He is sitting in the center of the three boys. Billy Kid (from down your way)to his left and a boy named Parsons (from up my way in Lee County Va.) sitting to his right. I can't remember the boy's name standing in the right side of the photo. I have been beating my brains out and I can't think of his name. If I'm not mistaken this photo was made by me in the summer of '66 in the Yakima desert of the state of Washington. You know how I have expresses my feelings about your husband Rex in my website. I mean every word of it.

Photo Of The Coveted COMBAT INFANTRY BADGE

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The C.I.B. is one of the most respected awards a soldier can receive and most honored, even more so than the Medal of Honor. It has been said that the CIB is the only award worn above the ribbon of the Medal of Honor on the Army uniform. Many holders of the Medal of Honor have not also been bestowed the CIB.

Photo Of Our !st Reunion

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Photo was given to me by Kurt (Doc) Nagl

This photo was made @ out 1st reunion in the early 70s. The location was @ Tommy Rouths home in North Carolina.

Standing L to R: Routh, Poteet, White, Ervin, Teal, Beaver, Orr, Kidd, Callicutt

Kneeling L to R: Nagl, Dudley, ??, Prince, Rhodes

Sitting L to R: Pickett, Steen, Wylie, Talton. Walker

(The above photo was taken appx. 1972…5 yrs. After we got home from the war)

A Little History About The Band of Brothers

Routh: He is from N.C. He also received multiple Purple Hearts Medals.

Teal: He took a large piece of shrapnel to his head and got to come home. He fell from a scaffold while installing some glass in a building. He almost died from the fall down in Spartenburg, S.C. He finally succumbed to the dreaded disease of Cancer a few years ago.

Beaver: Benny is another Scott County Boy. He is now retired from both the Military and the Glass Plant.

Orr: Larry is from Wyoming. I took 2 boys out there in 1993 to hunt on Larry’s 10,200 acre Ranch. I had a most wonderful week with Larry just knocking around with him on his ranch.

Nagl: The only Flatfooted Yankee in the group. Dudley gave him this nickname during Basic Training in Jan. ’66. Kurt “DOC” Nagl was our Medic. He watched over us making sure that we took our daily and weekly Malaria Pills, our water purification pills. He patched our minor wounds and kept a close check on our feet inspecting them for JUNGLE ROT. Jim Lemmon was his most active patient.

Dudley: He is another boy from Princeton, N.C. I saw him last Summer in Nashville. He suffered a massive stroke earlier when the Docs tried to clear plaque build up in his neck arteries and a piece of plaque entered into Lionel’s Brain . He had to hobble on his right leg, limited motion with his right hand and arm and he had a lot of trouble with his speech. I am real thankful to J.L. and Chris for saving me from suffering with Paralysis from my stroke.

Steen & Wylie: They are black kids from N.C. I haven’t seen them since this photo opt. I loved them then and now. They were just like me, only their skin was a different color.

Talton: Without a doubt the very best friend that I had in Viet Nam. He is from Princeton, N.C. We were specialized in different weapons over there, some were specialized with the M16, others with the M60 Machine gun, the Stevens Pump Shotgun, The PRC25 Radio, and last but not the least the M-79 Grenade Launcher. George was one of my squad’s M79 men. He was a real expert on his weapon.

Walker: Rex was from N.C. He died approx. 10 years ago from a massive Heart Attack while working in his Beloved Apple Orchard. His wife Vada, emailed me several times. She asked me for photos of Rex. She was supposed to come to last summer’s reunion but she didn’t make it. Kurt told me that she developed cancer and that she was taking Chemo Treatments and was too sick to attend. Later I found out that she passed while we were at the Reunion.

Photo Of My Little Friends 41 Years ago in Vancouver, Washington

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I was on Maneuvers in Vancouver, Washington and on Sunday morning they let a few of us attend a church. The people that attended the church that day sort of adopted one of us per family to have us share lunch with them. I feel bad that I do not remember the names of the kids nor of their parents. All that I remember is the circumstances behind this photo. Their mother gave me this photo of them.